Ukraine war: ‘Over 40’ Russian planes destroyed in drone attack as airbases targeted

Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday, the highest nightly total of the war so far.

The air force said in a statement that Russia had also launched seven missiles.

It added that 382 of the drones were shot down or otherwise neutralised, along with three of the missiles.

Russia has recently stepped up the amount of drones it launches at Ukraine in its regular nightly barrages.

Ukrainian negotiators will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement in Istanbul, according to a copy of the document seen by news agency Reuters.

The proposed roadmap begins with a full ceasefire of at least 30 days, to be followed by the return of all prisoners held by each side, and of Ukrainian children taken into Russian-held territory, and then a meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Under the blueprint, Moscow and Kyiv – with the participation of the United States and Europe – will work to hash out the terms on which they can agree to put a complete end to their three-year-old war, the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

Ukrainian officials said earlier this week that they had sent the blueprint to the Russian side in advance of the Istanbul talks.

The commander of Ukraine’s land forces, one of the most senior positions in the country’s armed forces, announced on Sunday that he was tendering his resignation, citing a lethal strike on Ukrainian military training facility.

Ukraine will send a delegation to Istanbul for a new round of direct peace talks with Russia on Monday, president Volodymyr Zelensky said, even as Russia pounded Ukraine with a missile strike that killed 12 soldiers and the biggest drone assault of the three-year war.

In a statement on Telegram, Mr Zelensky said on Sunday that defence minister Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian delegation. “We are doing everything to protect our independence, our state and our people,” Mr Zelensky said.

Ukrainian officials had previously called on the Kremlin to provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the war before the meeting takes place. Moscow had said it would share its memorandum during the talks.

The Russian delegation has departed for talks with Ukraine in Turkey, Russian state news agency RIA has reported, citing sources.

Russia launched the biggest number of drones on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion three years ago, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday.

The air force said 472 drones were launched over Ukraine. Russian forces also launched seven missiles alongside the barrage of drones, said Yuriy Ignat, head of communications for the Ukrainian air force.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has said Russian forces captured Oleksiivka in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

It comes a day after the ministry claimed its forces captured two villages in eastern Ukraine – Novopil in Donetsk region and Vodolagy in Sumy region,

The Independent could not verify battlefield reports.

Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, conducted a large drone attack on over 40 Russian military aircraft on Sunday, an SBU official told news agency Reuters.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the struck aircraft included Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine.

The Independent could not immediately verify the statement.

The source shared video footage which they said showed the strikes, Reuters reported.